"Green" Fintech: announcement effect or underlying trend?

Often overused, does the notion of “green” in finance keep its promises today?

Among the proliferation of French fintechs, new startups dedicated to green finance are starting to emerge. After crowdfunding platforms like We do good ou Lita.co, bots helping to find sustainable investments or startups facilitating the calculation of its carbon footprint such as Greenly, it is the turn of the neobanks dedicated to responsible finance to make their appearance. The green is in the spotlight but what is it really hiding?

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The European Union and France on the bridge

« A classification of sustainable activities or taxonomy has just been adopted by the Council of the European Union, which is a very important step«  , explains Alain Clot, president of France FinTech. " This political agreement classifies the different economic activities according to their contribution to the low carbon economy transition ”, Gabrielle Siry continues, but it will not come into force before 2022. Far from being trivial, this definition will provide a common definition at European level of what a "green" investment is. " Other texts, such as the European regulation known as Disclosure, want to impose mandatory reporting of the harmful impact of investments by financial institutions. These texts must be articulated between them ” , continues the economist. All this work, which follows on from the 2015 law on energy transition, will certainly take time. The problem is that the " generation of "millennials" is not ready to wait " , continues Alain Clot.

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Millennials, a target of choice

"The generation of under 30s is very sensitive to sustainable development, much more than previous generations", Alain Clot analysis. Its consumption patterns are evolving towards the purchase of organic products, in short circuits and more generally towards consumption that is as environmentally friendly as possible.

Digitally fed since their birth, they adopt different uses from their parents. "They no longer hesitate to change supplier when the services no longer suit them" , emphasizes Alain Clot and are great influencers. Now they are the ones who pass on their knowledge to their parents and grandparents. By combining digital and sustainable development, green finance is a formidable market for startups and traditional financial institutions. The royal texts should do a little cleaning to give it a little more legitimacy.